Rock Climbing Instructor Assessment
Rock Climbing Instructor Assessment – Who is it for?
The RCI Award is a Mountain Training Board Ireland certification for those that would like to supervise rock climbing and abseiling at a single pitch venue.
The RCI Assessment is suitable for those that have met the Mountaineering Ireland criteria, found under the ‘Assessment’ tab – https://www.mountaineering.ie/content/RockClimbingInstructor/116
Those applying for the RCI Assessment are required to submit proof of their compliance with the above criteria via their ‘D-Log.’
Requirements for attending the Rock Climbing Instructor Training
In order to attend the RCI Assessment the candidates needs to complete the following (please note these are minimum requirements).
- You must have attended a Rock Climbing Instructor (or Single Pitch Award) training course or been granted exemption from training.
- You must be familiar with the syllabus.
- You must be competently leading Severe grade climbs on outdoor crags with leader-placed protection.
- You must have led a minimum of 40 graded rock climbs with traditional protection at a variety of venues (of which at least 20 MUST be at Severe grade or above).
- You must be proficient in the use of climbing walls and have a minimum of 30 climbing wall leads graded at F4 or above.
- You must be proficient in outdoor bolt protected sport climbing and have a minimum of 10 sport climb leads graded at F4 or above.
- You must have assisted in the supervision of 20 instructed sessions. These sessions should be at a variety of different venues with 10 being on indoor climbing walls and the other 10 on outdoor crags. A session is a half day or evening. At least five of these sessions must have personal reflective comments recorded on DLOG.
- You must have physically attended and completed (i.e. not online) a first aid course which involved at least two full days or sixteen hours of instruction and included an element of assessment.
- Be a current member of a Mountaineering Council: Mountaineering Ireland, Mountaineering Scotland or the British Mountaineering Council.
Rock Climbing Instructor assessment is 2 days long.
Home Paper
RCI Candidates will receive a ‘home paper’ several weeks prior to the assessment.
This will enable the assessor to review the depth of knowledge on various aspects of the syllabus. It will also enable feedback to the candidate should there be any gaps of info prior to the assessment.
Hints and Tips
RCI candidates are expected to be independent thinkers with a broad knowledge base. There are multiple methods of almost every action in climbing, but a safe RCI candidate will have a thoughtful considered approach.
All choices when decision making, setting up rope systems, problem solving, teaching styles, planning should be based on the appropriate choice for a given situation. During the assessment you are expected to understand your choices and at times explain them.
The broader the level of investment in the consolidation period and the deeper a genuine interest in climbing, the better prepared a candidate will be for the assessment.
For setting up the various rope systems, practice in a variety of venues/situations as during your assessment the ideal location may be in use by other parties.
The Rock Climbing Instructor Assessment costs €220 per person.
This excludes the registration fee paid directly to Mountain Training Board Ireland
The Rock Climbing Instructor Assessment is available in Dublin, Wicklow or I will travel to a suitable venue for group bookings.
Happy Climbing.